1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to bottle tops, and, more particularly, is concerned with an indicator to be placed on pill bottle tops which shows the number of pills that are to be taken on a given day.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Indicators have been described in the prior art. However, none of the prior art devices disclose the unique features of the present.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,010, dated Nov. 2, 1999, Marshall disclosed indicators and methods of indicating which are intended primarily for use with medicine containers. The devices typically indicate the number of doses of medication ingested or remaining to be taken by a patient during a particular period. These devices additionally provide tactile assistance to patients in appropriately repositioning the indicator arms and, when used correctly, may reduce the possibility of patient overdose by restricting improper attempts to advance the indicator arm.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,224, dated Apr. 1, 1986, Heavener disclosed a container for game board pieces and other equipment, such as dice and cards, which has a carrying and storing handle, and is provided with a partially open area on one side thereof. A flat member is fastened by hinges to the container and folds forward to at least partially close the open area of the container. There is enough space between this hinged flat member and the container so that the game board will fit between these two parts. The game board is held in place as a result of pins extending from the container through the game board and making frictional engagement with the holes in the flat, hinged member. The flat, hinged member may alternatively be held in assembly with the game board by straps, and either the pins or straps may be employed to hold the flat, hinged member over the open area of the container when it is desired to store the game pieces without securing the container to the game board. The handle may have a slight central recess for convenience in mounting a number of the units on a pegboard or the like.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,834, dated Dec. 25, 1984, Thackrey disclosed a medicine bottle and cap, the cap containing a window through which one of several index marks, preferably serial numbers, is visible. The index marks are on a member nesting inside the cap and equipped with spring fingers set at an angle on a skirt. During opening of the bottle, this marked member is prevented from rotating as the cap is unscrewed, thus indexing the index marks. During closing, frictional forces cause all parts to rotate together.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,189, dated Jun. 28, 1988, Mastman, et al, disclosed a medicine bottle unit having a closure for indicating dosage and other information which changes automatically as the closure is rotated on the bottle of the unit. The closure includes an outer cap and an inner member within the cap. The cap and inner member have cooperable indicia thereon. The inner member moves with the cap as the cap is rotated in one direction on the bottle. However, the cap moves relative to the bottle and the inner member when the cap is rotated in the opposite direction on the bottle, thus assuring a change in the information represented by the indicia on the cap and the indicator on the inner member, or by indicia on the inner member visible through a hole in the cap. Several embodiments of medicine bottle unit are disclosed.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,432,300, dated Feb. 21, 1984, Lyss disclosed a pill dispenser having a rotatable cap with special opening means for dispensing a pill at the proper time for medication. The dispenser comprises a housing having openings corresponding to each time for medication in a repetitive cycle such as in a day or week. A rotatable indicator cap or lid has means cooperating with the housing to provide by a detent means stagewise movement and in a modification ratchet means for one way rotation. An opening in the cap is provided for view of indicia means on the top of the housing with a selected time for taking indicia. When the time for taking the pill arrives, the cap is rotated to present a dispensing opening in registry with one of the housing openings for dispensing a pill. The indicator cap and a bottom fill cap may be press fitted on the bottle housing for simple fabrication and refilling the contents.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,528,933, dated Jul. 16, 1985, Allen disclosed a container for pharmaceuticals and the like which has a caplike closure incorporating an indicator disk which is automatically indexed into successive indicating positions each time the container is used by removal and replacement of the closure. The container also has a manually operable rotary reminder wheel on its base. The disk may be used to indicate days of the week and the wheel to indicate hours of the day.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,045, dated Sep. 20, 1983, Villa-Real disclosed a color-coded, two-component medicament container comprising a cap means with variously pre-set structural interval spacings between each pair of preformed window system to differentiate a fixed three-hour time interval cap from a four-hour interval cap, a six-hour time interval cap, an 8-hour time interval cap and from a unitary pre-formed window for a 12 or 24-hour time interval cap; each kind of cap to be specifically used according to the prescribed frequency of drug administration such as every 3-hour frequency, every 4-hour frequency, every 6-hour frequency, every 8-hour frequency and every 12 or 24-hour frequency, respectively, as coordinated in a snug-fitting but clockwisely rotatable engagement with a complementarily shaped cylindrical medicament container having clock-like numeral indicia ranging from 1 to 12 and equidistantly arranged as in a clock therearound the supper circumferential exterior wall of the said indicament container is disclosed.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,347,804, dated Sep. 7, 1982, Villa-Real disclosed a simple mechanically manipulatable two-component interacting device for use as an effective medication time intake reminder having a stationary outer ring component having a circularly running clocklike numerical indicia that are equally interspaced between each succeeding numeral ranging from 1 to 12 is disclosed. The inner rotatory disc has fixed interval spacings between the xe2x80x9cLAST DOSExe2x80x9d arrow indicia and the xe2x80x9cNEXT DOSExe2x80x9d arrow indicia depending upon the required application such as the time interval called for in the administration of each particular medication. It is also disclosed and preferred that each rotatory disc for each respective time interval application be differently color coded to easily distinguish one from the other.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,256, dated Apr. 10, 1990, Tump disclosed a dispenser for dispensing a series of different pills over a prescribed period. The dispenser is provided with an indicator that is adjustable to preset the start of the pill regiment on whatever day desired. The pill package and dispenser are constructed and arranged so that after the indicator has been preset, the pill package can be fixedly positioned in the dispenser with the first pill of the regimen in position to be taken by the user on the first preselected day.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,422, dated Jan. 18, 1994, Adams disclosed a device suitable as a closure cap for a medicine container. The device has indicia circumferentially marked on the upper surface of the device representing the time for next taking the medicine in the container. An arm rotatably and pivotably mounted in the center of the device is set to point at the time for next taking the medicine. The arm is releasably retained in position by cooperating pegs and indentations on the upper surface of the device and the underside of the rotatable arm.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,975, dated Jun. 8, 1993, Bartholomew disclosed a combination pill bottle cap and indicator device adapted to function as the closure or cover for a pill bottle or container. The device includes an indicator providing a visual indication for the user that a pill has been or should be removed from the bottle for consumption.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,370, dated Feb. 26, 1985, Kelley disclosed a top for a pill or other medicine bottle having an externally threaded upper portion which receives the top. The top includes a cover which defines a recess having an internally threaded section for receiving the externally threaded portion of the bottle. The cover is proportioned for closing the upper portion of the bottle. Indicia in the form of numbers from one to twelve in the preferred embodiment are carried by the cover. A dial member rotatable mounted on the cover is moved by the user to indicate the time when the next dosage of medicine contained in the bottle is to be taken. In another embodiment, means are provided to be taken. In another embodiment means are provided to childproof the top such that the children cannot inadvertently gain access to the bottle contents.
While these indicators may be suitable for the purposes for which they were designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention, as hereinafter described.
The present invention discloses an indicator or numbering device for keeping track of the number of vitamins/medicine pills that one has taken. The present invention comprises a circular cover disk having a circular base plate disposed therein which plate is attached to the top of a medicine bottle, along with an indicator rotatably contained between the cover disk and the base plate whereby the cover disk has an aperture therein which permits viewing of the days of the week which are stamped onto the top of the circular base plate. The indicator operates rotatably between the cover disk and the base plate to indicate the number of medications taken on a given day. The present invention may utilize a two-sided, adhesive strip for attachment of the circular base plate to the top of a medicine bottle.
An object of the present invention is to provide a simple means of keeping track of the number of pills of medication/vitamins taken from a given bottle on a given day. A further object of the present invention is to provide a simple means of attachment of an indicator to a conventional bottle top.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages will appear from the description to follow. In the description reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments will be described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In the accompanying drawings, like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views.
The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the pending claims.